You will need to fill out a separate form for each course.  If the course requirements allow it, you may be assigned to one location to complete all your hours.  However, most courses have different requirements (urban vs. suburban, early childhood vs. secondary, etc.), so you will likely have separate placements for each course. Regardless of the situation, each placement will come in separately, therefore you should not wait until you receive both confirmations to begin your hours or make contact with the assigned location(s).

Unfortunately, the options for field placements that are in the evening are extremely limited.  We have some after-school placements, but these are few and far between. Additionally, these sites usually allow you to complete 1-2 hours per week – not a feasible situation if you need to complete 50 hours of field experience.  The best solution is to be creative with your time.  Many UA students have completed their hours by observing everyday during their lunch break.  Others have rearranged their work schedules or taken a few days off of work to complete their field hours.  Teachers are usually flexible in allowing you to fit your field hours into your schedule.  Please contact your instructor if you foresee a problem in complete all the required hours for your course.

If you want to do your field hours in the district in which you work, you will need to complete the Employee Candidate Request Form (Appendix B).  Once the Field Services Office has approved your request, you can begin your field hours.  Many teachers use their planning period or lunch break to complete their field experience hours. Please note that you must get approval through the Field Services Office before you can begin your field experience hours.

The process of obtaining numerous field placements is a complex and time-consuming, for the Field Services Office and for our P-12 partners.  It can take up to 5-6 weeks to receive your placement.  The Field Services Office will email you your placement information as soon as it is received.  In the mean time, you should be receiving weekly status updates regarding your placement request. If you haven’t heard from us we might not have your correct contact information. Please call, email or stop by.

Contact the location via email, phone, or both, right away.  Don’t delay, wait until a holiday break, or hesitate for any other reason before contacting the site or coordinator because this might result in a loss of the placement. Also, when calling your field site, be ready to discuss the days and times you would like to complete your field hours.  Teachers are usually very flexible in allowing you to work out a schedule.  Some teachers may also want to know exactly what you will be doing (observing, instructing, etc.) so be ready to discuss your course requirements.  Also, make sure to have a copy of your current (within 1 year) BCII check to supply to the field site. Proof of a current background check is a requirement for all field experience locations.

Remember to be patient; teachers are very busy with their classroom responsibilities.  However, if it has been more than a week, try contacting them through another method (i.e. email instead of phone).  If you still do not hear back after several attempts, contact the Field Services Office and we will make inquiries.

The Field Experience Office does not require a field log.  Some instructors require you to keep a log and if this is the case, your instructor should provide you with the log.  Always ask your instructor about what your requirements are for the field experience.   The Field Services Office does not have any information about individual course/instructor requirements and does not keep any field logs on hand.

Discuss the problem with your course instructor.  If the course instructor feels that the only viable option is to remove you from the placement, contact the Field Services Office immediately to begin the process of obtaining a different placement.

By policy of the College of Education as well as requests from our P-12 partners, all field placements must be secured by the Field Services Office. Any placements of 10 hours or more that have not been approved by the Field Services Office are not considered official placements and will not count toward the course requirements.